06 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903

Dr. E.

A. Mearns,

U. S.

Army,

in the

Yellowstone

^National

Park.

It

comprises about

^{5,:^00 specimens,}

and was very generously donated

^to the

Museum by

thecollector.

This

is

probably

the largest scientific collection of plants ever

made

in the park.

Next

in size

was

the col- lection

made by Mr. ^William

^R.

Maxon,

of the

Museum

staff, in Jamaica,

comprising about

2,000 specimens, chiefly ferns.

It is a pleasure to record the

continued

^activity of

Dr. W.

L.

Abbott

inthe explorationof the

East

Indies.

The

collectionsreceived

during

the

year were

^chiefly

from

the coast

and

islands of northwest- ern

Sumatra,

as farsouth as Siboga,

and from theRiou

Peninsula,just south of Singapore. The}^ comprise, ^asalready

mentioned, mammals,

birds, reptiles,

and

batrachians, ^fishes,

and

insects.

The Sumatran mammals, about

500 in

number, were

studied

by Mr. G.

S.Miller,jr.,

who

discovered

among them

a

new ape {Macacns

fuscus),

four new

species of

mouse

deer (genus Tragulus), nine

new

squirrels,a

new genus and

five

new

species of mice,

and

a

new porcupine

{Trickys macrotis).

The

birds

from

the

same

region also

comprised about 500

specimens, representing 152 species, of

which

19

were found by Dr.

C.

W.

Rich-

mond

to

be new

to science.

The

collections

from Pahang and

the

Riou Archipelago have

already yielded

four new

species of

mouse

deer,

and

are

probably

as

important

asthe

preceding one

for thelight

they

will

throw on

thedistribution of

Malayan

species.

The

National

Museum

has received

from

Dr.

Abbott,

since the

beginning

of his explorations in the

East

Indies,

no

less

than

2,500

mammals,

3,1)00 birds, 800reptiles

and

batrachians, besides

very numerous specimens

of other classes.

In

1902

the

U.

S.

Fish Commission steamer

Alhatross

was

sent to the

Hawaiian

Islands for the

purpose

of continuing the investigation of the fisheries. In the course of this

work

large collections

were made

in various

branches

of natural history

and

transmitted to the

Museum. Those

received

during

the

year covered by

this report

were

a valuable collection of birds'eggs,

about

1,500

marine moUusks

in alcohol,

many new

tothe

Government

collections,

and about 100

species apparently undescribed; a collection of corals,

and

a

second

lot of crustaceans.

The Commission

alsotransmitted acollectionof85birds,

mainly from Laysan

Island,

north

of

Hawaii,

including the

type

of a tern, ProceJstermasaxatilisFisher.

From

the

Alhatnm Samoan Expe-

dition of1902

were

receivedcorals

and

crustaceans in addition to the

specimens

transmitted last year.

The Commission

also furnished

about

800

specimens

of the

commoner

speciesof

marine

invertebrates of

Woods

Hole, Massachusetts, for distribution toeducational estab- lishments, together

with

a small collection of fishes

from

the

same

locality, a

specimen

of theTile fish {LopholdtUus),

from

70 miles ofl'

Nomans _Land,

_the

type and cotype

of a

new

species of white-fish {Coregonusstanleyi),

from Aroostook County, Maine, and

a

cotype

of a

new

fish

{Hadropterus

evermanni),

from Tippecanoe Lake,

Indiana.

EEPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 67

Prof. T. I).

A.

Cockerell, of

East Las Vegas, New Mexico,

pre- sented eight ^lots of insects of different orders, containing

many new

species,

and

including types

and

cotypes of species described

by him;

also three lots of

amphipod

crustaceans

and

leeches, the

former

rep- resenting a

new form foimd

in a

warm

spring.

An

interestingcollection of reptiles

and

batrachians

from northern Mexico and North

Carolina

was purchased from Brim

ley Brothers, Raleigh,

North

Carolina. It contained a series of a

salamander {DesnwgndthuH

qaadrlniaGidata)^

which had

not

been recognized

since

Holbrook's

time.

From

the

same

source

was

obtained a smallcollec- tion of

North

Carolina fishes,

one

of

which was found

to

be unde-

scribed

and was named Notropis

hrlmleyi

by Mr.

B.

A. Bean;

also eight

specimens

of the

very

rare skipper,

Pamphlla

Carolina Skinner.

Among

the

most important purchases

of the

year were

the zoological collections

made by Mr. William ^Foster

^{in thevicinity} of

Sapucay,

a small

town near Ascuncion, Paraguay. They comprise about 800

insects,

600

birds' eggs,

and 350

small

mammals. The mammals were

Drincipally bats.

The specimens were

all carefully

prepared and

labeled

and

filled

important gaps

in the

Government

collections.

Mammals. — ^In

^{addition to} Dr. Abbott's

East

Indian

mammals and

uhose

from Paraguay

^just

mentioned,

the

Museum

received several other accessions

which

deserve mention. Dr. E.

A. Mearns, U.

S.

Army, added

to his

generous

donations of

previous

years

two

collec- tionsof small

mammals, one from

the

Yellowstone Park, comprising about 300

specimens,

and

the other

from Fort

Snelling,

Minnesota, comprising about 200

specimens.

The

collections of

European

small

mammals,

already

very

rich,

was

increased

by two

collections,

one from

Switzerland

and one from Norway. An

excellent series of

Japanese

rodents

and

bats,

purchased during

the year, represents the

first well-prepared collection of

mammals

received

by

the

Museum from

that country.

Mr.

B. S. Rairden,

United

States

Consul

at Batavia, Java, obtained for the

Museum two specimens

of a

Javan mouse-deer, which proved

to be

an

undescribed speciesof

much

inter- est,

and was named Tragtdus

focalinus

by Mr. G.

S. Miller, jr.

A

somewhat imperfect but very

valuable skeleton of a peculiar porpoise

from

the

Hawaiian

Islands

was presented

b}^ Prof. Charles

H.

Gilbert of the

Stanford

Universit3^ Itrepresents the species

Pseudorca

cras- sldens, a

form

intermediate

between

the killers

and

blackfish,

which

has

not been

obtained hitherto

from

the vicinity of the

Hawaiian

Islands.

Birds.— My. Homer Davenport,

of

Morris

Plains,

New

^Jersey,pre- sented to the

Museum during

the

year

22 large

and

valuable birds

from

his extensive aviary,

among ^{which were an}

^Australian

^Goose,

^a

Javan

Jungle-fowl, a

Black-winged Peacock,

Pavonigripennis.,

regarded

by some

zoologists as a distinct species,

and

several beautiful pheas- ants, including Diard's Fire-back Pheasant,

Lopkura

diardi.

From

(>8

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM,

^1903.

Mr. A. Boucard were purchased two

rare birds ofparadise,

Paradisea

gxulielmi

and Bhijndomis ijuiUdmi-IIL A

^{pairof rare} flio-htless

cormonints from

the

Galapagos

Islands,

and about

300 birds

from

this

group and

the islands ofi' the

west

coast of

Mexico,

including a series of Wei<omiimis trifasciatus,

were

also purchased.

The Bishop Museum, Honolulu,

presenteda collection of the birdsof

Guam, com-

posing

about

44 specimens, representing species not previously con- tained in the

Government

collection.

Mr. Outram Bangs,

of Boston, presented

about

50 desirable

Honduras

birds,

and about

300

specimens from

Chiri({ui, CostaRica,

were

obtained

from him

in

exchange. The

I>iological

Survey, U.

S.

Department

of Agriculture, transmitted a line collectionof birds'

eggs from

diii'erentpartsof

North America.

Reptilesand,hatracklans.

—

^Messrs.

^Brimley and Sherman presented

afineseries of

salamanders from North

Carolina,

and Mr. H

^J.

Brown

a

number

of rare reptiles

from southern

Florida. In asiuall collec- tion

from Cocos

Island,

Costa

Rica, presented

by

Prof. P. Biolley,

were

five

specimens

of a

new

gecko, described

by Doctor

Stejneger

under

the

name

of SplixTodactylusjMcificxLS.

Fishes.

— ^The

^{accessions offishes w^ere}

remarkable on account

of the

number

of

type specimens and

cotypes included

among them. An

especially

important

accession consisted of 42 types of species of

Hawaiian

fishes, collected in1889

and

described l)y Dr. O. P.Jenkins, ofStanford University.

These were donated

to the

Museum by Doc-

torJenkins,

and

are a continuation of theseries

presented

in 1001.

A

collection of

Japanese

fishes, comprising- 75 species, of

which

3

were

represented b}^ t3^pes

and

16

by

cot3'pes,

was presented by Stanford

University. The}'^

were

collected

by

President

D.

S.

Jordan, by

the University of

Tokyo, and by K.

Otaki.

Included with them were

the t^'pes of

Bryostemvia

tarsodes

and

JJryolophus lysi/mcs,

two

species obtained near

Unalaska

Island

by

theAlhat^'oss.

The

typesofthe

Jap-

anese species

Draconetta

xenlca

and

Cyttojjsis itea

were

also received

during

theyear.

Among

single

specimens

of interestshould

be mentioned

a

very

large pipe-fish, Fistularla taljaccaria.,

4i

^{feet long,}

from Campeche Bank, Mexico,

presented

by

E. E.

Saunders &

Co. Dr. S.

Wier

Mitchell presented a large

salmon weighing 47 pounds, taken by him

^at Cas- capedia, Quel)ec. Castsof this fine fish

and

of the pipe-fish

were made

fortheexhi))itionseries.

A

^deep-seapelican-fish,

genus

Gastrostomus.,

was

received

during

the year

from

the U. S. S. Nero. It

was

obtained

during

the

survey

for the trans-Pacific cable at a

depth

of

between

2,000

and

3,000 fathoms.

Mr. Louis Mobray,

of

Bermuda,

obtained aliving

specimen

ofthe large

Conger

eel,

Channomur»na

vlttata,

and

sent^it to the

New York Aquarium. Upon

itsdeath,

which occurred

in a

few _months,

it

was

sent to the

Museum by

the director of the

aquarium,

atthe suggestion ofProf. C. L. Bristol. Dr. J.C.

Thomp-